PORTFOLIO

Mad Cow Motorcycle Project

The Mad Cow Motorcycle Project centers around a biodiesel/waste veggie oil-powered custom motorcycle, covered with real cow bones resembling a running cow skeleton. The motorcycle is built to run on one of the most environmentally friendly fuels, waste vegetable oil from restaurants. I ride this “Mad Cow” around Miami, answering questions about the bike and talking about the environmental impact of factory farming and our food choices. Through humor and spectacle, Mad Cow sparks discussion on these issues. I believe that real change occurs at the individual, family and community levels, and begins with an encounter or rendezvous with something unknown but not unknowable. I hope children will forever have the image of the Mad Cow running by in their minds and that they will be inspired to change their eating habits and get the idea that art can change the way we see and know the world.

Video documentary on the Mad Cow Project, filmed on location in Miami, Arizona, and New Mexico during 2014. Directors: Robert Bennett and Billie Grace Lynn. Cinematography and video editing by Robert Bennett.

Death Bed

The “Death Bed” is an installation and performance piece focusing on the meat industry and its impact on the environment and our health. The focal point of the installation will be a queen-size, rococo-style, four-poster bed made from the bones of several cows, which I obtained twenty years ago from a rancher in Mississippi. The highly ornate bedposts and head- and footboards consist of the vertebrae, leg bones, pelvic bones, and skulls, mimicking the decorative excess of the rococo style. A cowhide bedspread covers the mattress. A video of cows grazing in a lush, green pasture, as they once did before the advent of factory farms, will be projected onto the gallery walls surrounding the bed.

Skull

High Horse

A life-sized mechanical,kinetic horse sculpture. The horse's legs move in a galloping motion as the rider pedals.

High Horse

Hand

20058' H x 6' W x 1' DSteel, iron, plastic, string.

Interactive, kinetic sculpture in which the viewer can touch the wooden hand and be touched back.

Hand

Woman

200515' H x 20' W x 12'DAluminum, Styrofoam, wood, graphite, cord.

A life-sized interactive, marionette-like sculpture of a woman. Movement is controlled by viewers as they pull on strings.

Woman

White Rabbit

20103'L x 2'W x 10'HWood, steel, rabbit fur, string

White Rabbit

Fallen Angel

2000/200510' H x 6' W x 6'DSteel, wood, bird wings, string.

Fallen Angel

White Elephants

2007each approx. 10' L x 6'W x 8'HRipstop nylon, electric fan.

Elephants carry vast meanings on their backs. In particular, white elephants have been considered sacred since ancient times in Asia. The Buddha was conceived after his mother dreamed of a white elephant holding a lotus blossom. Possessing a White Elephant conferred great prestige on a family but also a huge burden. Keeping a white elephant was very expensive since it had to be provided with special food and accommodations and could not be used for labor. The gift of a white elephant was considered both a blessing and a curse and it bankrupted many recipients, some deliberately.

Another literary elephant is the English idiom, “the elephant in the room” which means an obvious truth that is not spoken or is ignored usually because it is taboo or embarrassing.

Ganesh, the elephant god, whose effigy is found at the entrances of homes, businesses, and temples throughout India exemplifies the contradictions and connections between the known and the unknown. Ganesh marks the transitional space between the sacred and profane. He is a protector and destroyer, and the creator and remover of obstacles.

At this point, the White Elephant is an apt metaphor for our contemporary condition; too expensive to sustain, too precious to surrender, and in a state of rapid change.

May this ancient symbol of transformation remind us to respect each other, to remember the past, and to protect the future. The elephant is able to move silently in spite of its great mass, perhaps we too will learn to step more carefully.

Graffiti Elephant

200710' L x 6'W x 8'HRipstop nylon, paint, electric fan.

Painted by students at the University of West Florida, the University of Miami, and visitors to the University of Miami Project Space.

Fetus (Gift of Quan Yin)

1993, 200520' H x 20' W x 50' DPlastic, monofilament.

Inflatable fetus sculpture. Originally made for an exhibition in China in response to the "one-child policy" and remade in 2005 for an exhibition, "The Pain of Others," at Edge Zones in Miami.

Whale

200365' L x 20' W x 12' HRipstop nylon, electric fan.

A life-sized inflatable sculpture of a sperm whale.

Panoramic view

Photo credit: Cris Benton

Dead Mouse

200330' L x 15' W x 12' HRipstop nylon, electric fan.

Dead Mouse is an inflatable sculpture which depicts a cartoon character in combat fatigues, dead with blood running from his mouth onto the floor. The size of the mouse emphasizes the scale of the problem - a simple-minded, uninformed, do-gooder America; pressed into service by maniacal, political, capitalist greed. Loss of innocence and the loss of moral authority are the primary concerns of the work. The piece is provocative - it is a wake-up call to speak up about issues and become educated about what is going on in the world.

Shadowed Equilibrium

201632" W x 16" D x 64" HGlass, hoodie, water, aluminum, steel.

Obama Kite

20106'W x 9'H x 1' DRipstop nylon, fiberglass, string

Obama Kite

Abu Ghraib Prison

Installation consists of scale models of Abu Ghraib prison, depicting scenes of torture documented in photographs released in 2004 and 2006. Torture scenes were re-created using Barbie and GI Joe dolls and photographed.

Peace Plane

Homeland Security Vehicle

A mobile surveillance unit, complete with video camera and microphones. In 2006, the Homeland Security Vehicle was shown at Area 405 Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, and a performance in connection with the exhibition included a trip to the National Mall and the White House. A video (collaboration with artist Ruth Bowler) of the performance was included in "Digital VD: Viral Video Art," a traveling exhibition curated by Moira Payne, Eddie Summerton and Michael Windle.

homeland security vehicle

Lenses of 9/11

20054' H x 4' WInkjet print.

Eye images consisting of photos of the victims of 9/11.

Washing Hate

The Montana Human Rights Network acquired 4,000 volumes of white supremacist propaganda from a defecting official of the World Church of the Creator. They approached the Holter Museum with the idea to use the books to create art for an exhibition.

More than 100 artists from coast to coast responded to the Holter Museum of Art's open invitation to reflect upon or transform white supremacist propaganda. The astonishing and moving result - in sculpture, video, painting, photography, collage, printmaking, book arts, beadwork, fiber, and performance - is thought-provoking, insightful, and turns dark to light.

...This exhibition seeks to challenge and expand us by bringing us face-to-face with different perspectives, breaking through the limits of our comfort, and taking us beyond familiar ground to new territory.

Our highest hope for this exhibition is that it will start conversations within families and between strangers, and help us all create a better community.

American Empire

200628" H x 12" W x 12" DFlags

Hoods made from U.S. flags. Limited edition of 10.

Apotropaic

2002Installation at Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg University.

An installation at Bloomsburg University honoring the victims of September 11th.

Living Room

200315' L x 12' W x 4' HFurniture, cement, wood, steel.

A temporary public art installation in Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Consists of typical living room - sofa, chairs, coffee table, end tables, and television set - covered in cement. The goal was to create a setting for social and community interaction, a place where people could sit down and discuss their thoughts and opinions with one another on the events of our world.